Flowery Branch High's Molly May (14) drives on Gainesville High's Kiki Thompson, right, during the second half of Tuesday night's Red Elephant win at the Flowery Branch High gymnasium.

FLOWERY BRANCH — A 16-1 run to start the third quarter, and 55-point second half, gave the Flowery Branch boys an 85-52 win over Region 7B-AAA rival Gainesville on Tuesday night at Flowery Branch High.

The Falcons (20-3, 9-0) led by only two points at halftime thanks to a resilient effort in the latter half of the second quarter by the Red Elephants (12-10, 5-4).

A dunk by Gainesville’s Nick Johnson with four minutes and 35 seconds to go in the second quarter and a Brock Boleman layup off an inbounds play on the Red Elephants’ ensuing possession brought Gainesville within one point of the Flowery Branch lead.

Two quick baskets pushed Flowery Branch’s lead back to five points, but a Gerald Ford drive and layup put Gainesville within two going into the break.

"Didn’t have to say anything (to the team at halftime)," Flowery Branch coach Todd Cottrell said. "We got outhustled in the first half and our guys take a lot of pride in that; they knew. So they just came out and tried to play a little harder and make some things happen."

The Falcons came out of the locker room ready to prove themselves and wasted no time in doing so.

Josh Barrett, who had only five points up to that point, took it upon himself to spark the Falcons to a 16-1 run to start the third quarter.

Barrett, who finished with 19 points, scored seven during the run.

It wasn’t until less than four minutes to go in the third quarter that Gainesville senior Allen Dockery broke the Falcons’ run with two free throws. But the damage to the Red Elephants’ early-game momentum had already been done.

Flowery Branch (8-13, 2-5) kept it to within two points for the better part of the first quarter until Gainesville coach Manson Hill put in a big lineup, went to a 2-2-1 zone press instead of man-to-man press, and in turn, helped his team start an 11-2 run to end the first quarter.

Mikelyn DeFoor led Gainesville during the run with five points.

The Lady Red Elephants went on to score 32 points in the next two quarters to take a 28-point lead into the fourth quarter.

Flowery Branch was led by Jessica Hart who finished with 12 points.

Gainesville next plays host to West Forsyth at 7 p.m. Friday while Flowery Branch plays at 7 p.m. Friday in Jasper against Pickens.